Japan: Kansai hopes Suga will move forward with IR

Kansai politicians and businessmen have shown support for Suga’s leadership while awaiting a national policy for IR developments.

Japan.- Politicians and businessmen in the region of Kansai have shown support for Yoshihide Suga, the new prime minister of Japan.

Suga has been appointed leader of the Liberal Democratic Party following the resignation of Shinzo Abe, and has now been named prime minister.

Masayoshi Matsumoto, chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation, said: “[The administration] has been deeply involved in big projects in Kansai such as the Osaka/Kansai Expo and integrated resorts (IR), so this is reassuring for the Kansai business community.”

Ken Furuichi, secretary general of the Kansai Association of Corporate Executives, said: “I have high expectations for Suga, as someone who represents a rural area, to make efforts to correct the overconcentration in Tokyo.”

Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka of Wakayama prefecture, which is in the Kansai region and seeks to bid for an IR, said he hopes that Suga “will move forward” with the delayed publication of Japan’s Basic Policy on IRs.